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This is not a Land Rover Defender. It might look like one in the photos but thats because the INEOS billionaire owner decided to build a replacement for his old Defender after Land Rover stopped making them. The Defender wasn’t a very practical car and it was known to have a lot of shortcomings. The Grenadier is the spiritual successor of the original Defender but with all the problems fixed.

I’ve been interested in this car ever since it launched so I was super excited to drive it. I had the car for 24 hours so I got to spend a lot of time with it and here is what I liked and disliked.

The Good
The exterior has a timeless look so it won’t get old. The interior is filled with buttons which I love and there are even buttons on the roof. The AC worked great and I drove it during the hottest parts of the day. There were both USB-A and USB-C ports, wireless CarPlay, reverse sensors and camera, and every other essential but basic tech. The car was very comfortable on rough roads and the engine easily picked up speed on the highways.

The Bad
The car I drove had the glass sunroof option which meant I had the sun in my face all day. The AC although strong had 4 only blower steps, 4 was too powerful, 3 wasn’t powerful enough and I couldn’t set it in between. The AC knob also didn’t have a nice feel or click to it which is weird considering all the other 600 buttons felt great. There is no dash cluster in front of you which is fine because your speed and other info is displayed on the left of the center screen. But that pushes CarPlay too far right and the reverse camera also all the way right. It was annoying in use. Finally, the biggest issue I have with the car is the cost. The car starts at 21,900 while the model I drove is 26.5. That’s a lot of money but I guess everything is expensive nowadays.

Would I buy the car? Yes totally, if it was cheaper. I’m the perfect customer for this car so I feel this car was made for me. I love the look; I like that it has only the essential tech and I love the story on why this car exists. It’s a perfect go anywhere do anything 4X4.

There is no INEOS showroom yet since the car officially launches in Kuwait at the end of the year. The dealer is Al Babtain and you can check out the car or get more info by calling 67677715.

I’ve been driving by Seif Palace all my life and I never thought about the clock itself and I don’t think many other people have either. A couple of months ago a friend of mine shared a short article from a 1962 issue of a newspaper which spoke about the clock install and it caught my interest so much so that I spent the past two months trying to dig out as much information as possible. I wanted to find pictures of the clock under construction, maybe sketches of the design or photos of the installation. But after two months of trying, I think I’ve hit a wall and I’ve decided to give up. Although I managed to find interesting information, I didn’t have any new visuals to accompany the information which deflated me. Instead of throwing out all the information I’ve managed to gather, I figured I’d still share whatever I found, even though I didn’t have any photos to accompany the research.

The Seif Palace clock was installed in January 1962 after taking 5 months to build. It was engineered by the UK based clockmakers Smith of Derby who have been making clocks since 1856. I got in touch with Smith of Derby to try and see if they had any photos or schematics of the clock, but they couldn’t find anything in their archive, and whoever had worked on the clock had long retired. But they were able to share some interesting information with me which I’m sharing in this post.

The clock that was originally installed in 1962 was a weight driven mechanical clock, with 4 cast iron dials each 8-feet in diameter and weighing a total of 4 tons. The clock was decorated with 23 & 1/2 carat gold leafs and had internal lights for nighttime dial illumination. Originally the clock also had three bells. Two of the bells would be used to chime the quarter hours while the third bell would strike every hour. The bells were also fitted with an automatic night-silencer so not to annoy people during the night. According to Smith of Derby, the bells were most likely supplied by John Taylor Bell Foundry. The person I was in communication with told me he even had a vague memory of a colleague of his telling him that the bells were hung but never rung. I’ve never heard them rung nor did I know the clock was meant to ring so I imagine that story is true. I tried to verify the story and gather more information on the bells but Taylor Bells have yet to respond to my emails.

During the 1990 invasion, the mechanical clock was damaged beyond repair when a missile was put through the dial. Smith of Derby were contracted to rebuild the clock, and in 1995 it was replaced, this time with an electric movement instead of a mechanical one (T400 synchronous movement, accurate to +/- 1 second a month and controlled by an inverter charger to keep the voltage at 230v 50hz). I’m not sure if the bells are still in the clock tower, my assumption is they aren’t. I tried to get access to the Seif Palace clock tower to find out but I wasn’t able to.

The Seif Palace clock isn’t the only clock in Kuwait made by Smith of Derby. I found three other clocks in Kuwait made by them, the clock in Riggae Park, the Al Mulla Group clock outside the airport, and the beautiful clock located inside the Waldorf Astoria.

And thats everything I could dig up on the Seif Palace clock. If you can by any chance get me inside the clock tower, let me know!

The old abandoned buildings on Fahad Al Salem Street near Salhiya are finally getting demolished (everything highlighted in yellow on the map). They’ve been abandoned for years and they were making the downtown area look really gritty so I’m glad things are moving forward.

I was always hoping they’d get refurbished since when you look at old photos of the street the buildings actually looked great when new. But that wasn’t going to happen and keeping the buildings as is wasn’t going to work either.

I’m not sure if that strip is as sentimental to other people as it is to me. After the 1990 invasion there weren’t that many electronic shops open but there were a bunch on that strip that were. I still remember the night my dad took me there to get my very first sound system with a CD player and then later at various points in the 90s I got a second sound system and a couple of Walkmans.

The buildings on that strip have been around since the 60s and were considered really modern back when they were built. So I went through my archives and dug up my favorite photos of the street to celebrate what was at one point in time, a bustling commercial and cultural hub for the country.

Yesterday I was given a tour of the new Kuwait T2 airport terminal, which is a candidate to get a LEED green building certificate. LEED is a certificate that is awarded to buildings whose construction and design incorporate sustainability methods.

I was first given a tour of the outside of the terminal before making our way inside. Usually, the renderings look better than the final result but I think in this case, it’s the other way around. I don’t think the renderings do the building material and color justice, it’s much more impressive in person. Also, seeing the multiple arches from various angles and noticing how they layer in some areas creates a visually stunning experience that you need to see in person to appreciate.

The airport is huge and not just when compared to our existing airports, it’s proper international standard airport huge. From what I could tell the airport structure had been completed and the majority of the work I saw taking place was at the aircraft gates, the parking lot area, and the large bridge that will take the cars up to the arrival area. I wasn’t given a completion date but according to previous articles published, the deadline for completion is later this year.

One thing that caught my attention while walking around the construction site was how clean it was. That’s part of the requirements in the construction phase when you’re aiming for a LEED certificate, they have a dedicated crew whose job is to go around the site cleaning it up and recycling as much of the waste possible. Right now 86% of the collected waste is recycled which is extremely impressive. Obtaining a LEED certificate involves more than just recycling waste. For example, they sealed off AC ducts during construction to prevent dust from entering and compromising air quality once the airport is operational. We won’t even get a “new paint smell” when the airport opens because they’re controlling the kind of chemicals used inside the paint. It’s a legit operation.

After walking around the airport yesterday and imagining how it’s going to look once it’s completed, I can’t wait for it to open up. It’s the airport we’ve always wanted, I just hope by then we get Smart Gates for passport control.

Below are all the events I found taking place this weekend, if I missed anything let me know in the comments:

Thursday, Dec 22
Construction Expo Baytak
Meet Me At The Terrace – DJ Nights

Friday, Dec 23
Construction Expo Baytak
Kites Watching in Bnaider
Meet Me At The Terrace – Live Music
Let It Snow Painting Event
Kuwait Rally Championship

Saturday, Dec 24
Construction Expo Baytak
Meet Me At The Terrace
Doll Making Workshop
Art of Life Coaching – Fresh Start Workshop
Trip to Failaka
An Insight into Kuwaiti Films
Al Jahra Nature Reserves Eco Tour
Yoga – Festive Flow by the Pool
ALONE! Mindfulness Session
Bloom – Sustainability Lifestyle & Entertainment Market

Exhibitions
25 O’Clock by Walid Taher
A Retrospective by Abdulwahab Al Awadhi
Visitor of Freedom by Thuraya Al Baqsami

Activities
Albohayra Farm
Ascend Rock Climbing
Indoor Karting
Little Jungle
Murouj Farm
Movement Classes at Omni Studio
Roller Blade at Roller Hub
Yoga at Darātma

Museums to Visit
Abdullah Salem Cultural Center (ASCC)
Amricani Cultural Center Museum
Bait Al Othman Museum
Tareq Rajab Museum

Below is this weekend’s list of events taking place. If I missed anything let me know in the comments.

Thursday, Nov 17
Kuwait International Book Fair
JACC: The Tiger Who Came to Tea
WAGMI Talk Sessions
Plant a Tree at Boulevard
Healing Circle

Friday, Nov 18
Kuwait International Book Fair
JACC: The Tiger Who Came to Tea
Gulf Run
Sailing: Friday Sunset Cruising
Doll Making Workshop
Grounding Beach Art
Football: Belgium vs Egypt
Disney Store Meet & Greet

Saturday, Nov 19
Kuwait International Book Fair
JACC: The Tiger Who Came to Tea
Gulf Run
Operation Turtles Beach Cleanup
Treasure Hunt at Al Shaheed Park
Family Medicine 5K Race
Storytelling Through Songwriting
Art Sandsation
Al Andalus Retro Poster Workshop
Ceramics Workshop: Qahwa Cups
Cooking Class: Fried Chicken 101
KTAA Fall Bazaar
Disney Store Meet & Greet
Grand Mosque Tour

Exhibitions
The Divine Agent by Lilia Nour
Ghada Al Kandari x Mercedes Benz

Activities
Albohayra Farm
Ascend Rock Climbing
Indoor Karting
Little Jungle
Murouj Farm
Movement Classes at Omni Studio
Roller Blade at Roller Hub
Yoga at Darātma

Museums to Visit
Abdullah Salem Cultural Center (ASCC)
Amricani Cultural Center Museum
Bait Al Othman Museum
Tareq Rajab Museum

Next weekend there is a new racing event taking place at KMT called Kuwait Track Challenge. What sets this race apart from other local races is the fact that they’re offering fairly large sums of cash for the winners totaling KD65,000.

When they first announced the event I was pretty impressed by the prizes but I didn’t really realize how much more exciting it would be making the competition until this week. For those of you not into cars or racing, there are different classes for the cars during races to make it fair. The classes for Kuwait Track Challenge are divided by tire size because usually, the more powerful and larger the car, the larger the tire sizes. So for KTC, they’ve split it up into the following three classes:

Pocket Rocket – 245 tires and below
Sleeper – 285 tires and below
Outlaw – All tire sizes

Every category will have 5 winners who will each win:
1st – $32,000
2nd – $13,000
3rd – $9,700
4th – $6,500
5th – $3,250

Because of the large cash prizes, what I realized this week is a lot of people are taking this competition very seriously by actually investing money into their cars with hopes the upgrades they make will pay for themselves if they win. It’s actually gotten me excited to watch the races because I now want to see what everyone has done to their cars.

The event will be taking place next week over two days, November 4th and 5th at Kuwait Motor Town. There will be food trucks and music as well for people who want to come by and watch the event. If you’re interested in participating in the races registration as of now is still open. Here is the link to register, and they’re on Instagram @challengethetrack

Looks like Gulf Bank has activated Apple Pay for their customers because they just announced it on their website:

Gulf Bank is excited to announce the Apple Pay Digital Wallet for Gulf Bank cardholders. The Apple Pay service enables you to pay using your iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, or Mac. The Apple Pay payment method is available in most stores that accept contactless/ tap & pay transactions in Kuwait and abroad, making your purchases more convenient and secure. Link

NBK, hope you’re next!

Update: Gulf Bank have taken down the announcement page but CBK and NBK have both uploaded their pages. Here is the NBK page and here it the CBK one. I just tried adding my NBK card and it didn’t work so looks like they’re preparing for launch but haven’t actually launched it yet.

Thanks Bo Talal!

Below is this weekend’s list of events and activities, if I missed anything, please let me know in the comments:

Thursday, Oct 6
Lets Be Aware Popup
Kids Storytelling at PCC: I Love You Little Monkey
Kids Weekend Activities at Discovery Place!
Hangouts at LAPA with Silverhammer & Friends
Melemele Karaoke’s Second Year Anniversary

Friday, Oct 7
Lets Be Aware Popup
Kids Weekend Activities at Discovery Place!
Sailing: Friday Sunset Cruising
Trashtag Beach Cleanup
18th Kuwait Rapid Chess Championship
Q8 Moto Academy Season Opening

Saturday, Oct 8
Lets Be Aware Popup
Polymer Clay Workshop: Pressed Flower
Glass Bead Making Taster
Terrarium Masterclass
Workshop: Watercoloring at the Habitat Museum
Emperor of the Mats Jiu-Jitsu Tournament
JACC Movie Night: Ibrahim
JACC Movie Night: Costa Brava Lebanon

Exhibitions
Exhibition: Matter of Material – Sculptures from CAP Collection.
Exhibition: My Name Is Woman – Maha AlAsaker
To Hug by Rita Hassouany

Activities
Ascend Rock Climbing
Cable Park
Ice Skating at the Winter Games Club
Indoor Karting
Murouj Farm
Movement Classes at Omni Studio
Roller Blade at Roller Hub
Try Windsurfing
Yoga at Darātma

Museums to Visit
Abdullah Salem Cultural Center (ASCC)
Amricani Cultural Center Museum
Bait Al Othman Museum
Tareq Rajab Museum

Since we’ve been on the subject of food delivery apps this past few days, here is another interesting tidbit.

There is a new delivery app that will be entering the market soon and it will be called CARI. The delivery platform is by the previous owners of Carriage who had signed a 5 years non-compete agreement with Delivery Hero when they were acquired back in 2017. Since the 5 years are now up, the previous owners are entering the market again.

What will they bring to the table?

When Carriage initially launched one of the few things that made it different than Talabat was the quality of restaurants over quantity. They had a much smaller list of restaurants available but they were all good restaurants, a curated list. CARI is bringing that back, they have only been approaching companies that have good brands and asking them to join the platform.

Another differentiating factor is that they will guarantee 30 minutes delivery. This is going to be big since you’re more likely to order from CARI if your favorite restaurant on it will deliver to you quicker than other apps. Restaurants that are currently being invited to join the platform will only be accepted if they can guarantee food can be prepared within a specific time (I think 6 minutes). If they can’t, then they won’t be allowed to join the platform. Another way of making sure the food will get to you in 30 minutes is by reducing the delivery zone. Currently, most delivery platforms allow restaurants to deliver within a 10km radius, CARI is going to deliver within a 5km radius. This means the riders don’t have to travel a long distance to deliver the food to you. On the downside it also means you might no longer be in the delivery zone of your favorite restaurant.

Not actual logo

Finally, they’re also doing something different with the restaurants. Most delivery platforms right now charge restaurants a 25-35% fee off every order as well as 1KD from the customer to deliver the food. CARI is taking a different approach. To entice restaurants to join their platform, CARI is charging restaurants 0% commission for the first couple of years. Instead, restaurants will have to pay a one-time fee of **KD (I can’t disclose the exact amount) for every new customer that orders from their restaurant. So say I order from McDonald’s for the first time, McDonald’s would pay CARI 5KD (for example) as a new customer fee. And that’s it, no other fees. It’s kinda genius, CARI gets this big cash influx up front, and restaurants pay it with the hopes that the same customer will order again from them. Most restaurants will need the same customer to order from them maybe 8 or 10 times to cover the initial acquisition fee but after that, all the money goes into their pocket. If the customer doesn’t like the food and doesn’t order from the restaurant again or doesn’t order enough times over the next few years while this 0% commission is in effect, then that’s a loss for the restaurant.

When I first heard about this fee structure I was in awe. Usually, the platform would pay to acquire new customers but in this case they’ve not only managed to make it so that restaurants would pay the acquisition cost, but that fee is going to be a major cash boost at launch which should help CARI fast track their way into profitability. I love it.

With Carriage, Talabat, Deliveroo already owning the majority of the market share, the Saudi app Jahez entering the market, and now CARI also coming in, I think things are going to get really exciting.

Update: Their Instagram account is up and they’ve revealed the logo @get.cari

We’re currently super lucky to have three epic shows running simultaneously. I’m sure or at least hoping most of you are watching them, if not you’re missing out big time!

The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power
First up is the new LOTR series on Amazon Prime Video. I used to be a massive fan of the movies and I remember when the original ones came out I refused to watch them until the extended versions came out on DVD. I even watched the original 1978 animated movie back in the 90s before I even knew what it was. But that was a long time ago and I was much younger so I wasn’t sure I’d still be into it. Turns out I am and this new series on Amazon is making me want to go back and binge-watch everything previously released again. The only downside is the first season is only 8 episodes which feels extremely short since there is so much more I want to see happen.

House of the Dragon
After Game of Thrones, the amount of pressure that must have been on the House of the Dragon team to deliver must have been as epic as the show itself. But, they’ve succeeded and House of the Dragon is in my opinion on the same level as GOT right out the door. It’s basically the same show, it uses the same formula, the same brutality, it still has lots of noble houses which I can never keep track of, and it even has the same opening intro score. House of the Dragon is currently streaming weekly on HBO Max.

Andor
Finally, the third show currently running and you should be watching is Andor, the new Star Wars series. This is the least Star Wars Star Wars from all the new shows that have come out so far. It doesn’t feel very Disney and I think that’s one of the main reasons that I like it so far, I don’t know where it’s going. While The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett were great, they felt too similar, even Obi-Wan Kenobi, I knew who the heroes were and that they were going to kick everyone’s ass. Andor has a completely different feel, kinda like how the movie Joker felt so different from the previous Batmans. Andor is streaming on Disney+.

So we have a new Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones and Star Wars all streaming at the same time, crazy!

Pinot is a digital artist that was living in Kuwait up till 2014 and is incredibly talented in pixel art and animation using vintage computers. He gained worldwide fame through the service Vine which back before Twitter acquired it, used to allow users to share six-second-long looping video clips. Eventually a digital agency in New York found out about him and offered him a job so he packed up and left Kuwait with his family to work and live there. Since then he’s gotten even more popular with nearly 400K followers on Instagram and even ended up on an MKBHD episode where he showed Marques how to paint on an old Mac.

His Childish Gambino video that went viral

Sadly back in June he suffered a stroke and fell into a coma. Since then he’s been gradually progressing ever so slowly and eventually was taken off life support since he started breathing by himself. He also started making hand gestures and moving one of his arms and legs and is still slowly improving.

Art for Pinot is an initiative from the Indonesian NFT community to help him by inviting fellow creators to donate their artwork as a form of support. If you’re an artist reading this you can help by donating an artwork. For more information visit bit.ly/ArtforPino

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pinot (@pinot)

If you’re not an artist but still want to help, there is a GoFundMe page.

If you’re just curious and want to check out some of Pinot’s work, his Instagram is @pinot and his twitter (which he posts animations in progress) is also @pinot

If you want to stay updated on his progress, his wife is sharing updates on her Instagram @ditut

It’s been a month since I got my Toyota Hilux and since then I’ve done two Saudi trips and driven over 5,000KM in it. I’ve also started personalizing the car with various upgrades similar to what I did with my FJ Cruiser 12 years ago and my Wrangler before that. But, the difference this time around is that I’ve mostly managed to find everything I needed locally instead of having to ship things in. Here is what I’ve gotten done so far and from where:

Window Tint
The first thing I did was get my windows tinted, I previously used Huper-Optik on my FJ and decided to use the same brand again since I didn’t have any issues with it after 12 years. Motorworks are the dealers for it so went and got my tint done there at their new workshop. They took over the old Mercedes garage on the 4th Ring Road so their place is now HUGE. I dropped the car in the morning and picked it up in the afternoon and it cost me 110KD. Need to actually take one of my other cars back there to get tinted as well now that I think about it.

Paint Protection Film
For PPF I decided to get it done at ProTech Monte-Carlo. To save money I originally went and got it done at another place first, but they didn’t do a good job and had missed some spots so I decided to get it done again at ProTech. This happens when you try to save money, you end up spending more than if you had done it right the first time around. I only got the front of my car done, so full hood, full fenders, front bumper etc. I think I paid around 190KD but that’s because I kept some of the previous PPF from the first place on. ProTech are really the best at details with the aim of making sure you can’t tell there is any protection on the car. I really regret not going there to begin with but oh well.

Wheels
I originally was planning to buy my wheels online but the vast amount of options available was giving me anxiety, especially since you basically have to imagine them on the car. In the end I decided to go local and ended up trying to decide between two brands, EVO Corse (Epic Overland are the dealers) or BRAID (Formula Wheel are the dealers). I decided to go with BRAID and now that they’re on the car I think I made the right decision. The original Hilux wheels were 18″ but I went with 17″ BRAID’s because I prefer having more rubber between the road and the car. I tend to hit or scrape my tires on curbs so more rubber means less chance the wheels are getting scratched. I paid 590KD for 4 wheels.

Tires
I’m a big fan of BF Goodrich and Michelin tires, the same dealer (KAICO) sells both brands and they’re the only two tire brands I use on all 7 of my cars. I decided to get the BFG All-Terrains for the Hilux, the same ones I had on my FJ and they’re great because they’re pretty much puncture proof. The original tires on the car were 265/60/R18, I decided to go larger and so went with 265/70/R17. They’re just over an inch taller and I was able to fit them with no bodywork modification. Other than looking better and raising the car height, my speedometer is now also accurate instead of it being around 10km off. Four tires cost me 420KD.

Lift Kit
To fit the larger tires and also improve the ride quality a bit I had to get a lift kit. There is only one place I trust for any 4×4 work and its ORP. I posted about them 12 years ago when I had the lift kit on my FJ installed there. Back then they had just opened, it was a tiny garage and they were just getting started. Since then they’ve grown a lot and now have a pretty big showroom with a much much larger garage in the back. They are also dealers for multiple 4×4 brands including Old Man Emu, ARB, WARN, Rhino, Mickey Thompson, Fabtech, Total Chaos, Method, TJM, FOX, you name it. They’re so good that people from around the GCC bring their 4x4s to them to get them modified for offroading. They’re so miles ahead of everyone and their customer service is the best there is.

Anyway, because I’m continuing to stick to brands I trust I went with Old Man Emu for my suspension again which is the same brand as what I had on my FJ and my Wrangler before that. ORP was out of stock on my rear shocks so had to get those from Alsayer who are also the dealers. I then needed OME upper control arms and both ORP and Alsayer were out of stock so I checked in Dubai and Riyadh since I had trips to both places. Dubai was also out of stock but I did find one last piece at the OME dealer in Riyadh and so got it from there. In total it cost me around 450KD for everything including installation and alignment (which ORP do in-house). Installation took a day so dropped the car in the morning before work and then picked it up after work.

Sound System
The last thing I did to my Hilux was upgrade the sound system and I decided to go with FOCAL since they made speakers that were plug and plug with my Hilux. I ended up installing the speakers myself which were relatively easy and only took a few hours following a step-by-step video on YouTube. What a difference the speakers made, I can’t believe they sound this good and they didn’t even require me to install a separate amp. I ended up ordering them from a website in South Africa called Angrijeep because the price there was 50% cheaper than anywhere else. They cost me 115KD and another 35KD for shipping plus I ordered a Dynamat Kit from Amazon which cost me 30KD plus 16KD for shipping. I definitely got the best bang for my buck.

Whats Next
I’ve pretty much done everything I wanted to do except I now need to get a roll cover for my tub in the back. That way I can put tools and gear in the back and not worry about them getting stolen or damaged by the weather. I want a Mountain Top EVOm roll cover and the only dealer in our region is Arctic Trucks Dubai, so I’m heading there in a couple of weeks. Since I’m driving all the way there I’m also going to get a few other things including a Mountain Top spots bar and Rival 4×4 skid plates. Once I get those fitted the only thing left will be installing a tailgate control locking kit since right now the tailgate doesn’t lock and unlock with the remote. I think I’ll be done after that, I hope.

If you have any questions or are curious about the availability of any brands locally, let me know in the comments.

Update: Ended up driving to Dubai and getting the Mountain Top EVOm roll cover installed, plus the sports bar and the Rival Underbody guard. Got it all done at Arctic Trucks Dubai.

If you’re a Game of Thrones fan then you probably already know that yesterday the first episode of the GOT prequel House of the Dragon was released. I watched the first episode last night and it was amazing and I can’t wait for the rest of the season to play out. If you haven’t watched Game of Thrones that’s fine, you can still watch House of the Dragon since it’s a prequel and so you don’t need to have watched GOT to understand whats going on.

I watched House of the Dragon on HBO Max on my AppleTV using a smart DNS service. I’ve posted about this service before but I’ll explain it again for those of you who missed my previous posts. Smart DNS works like a VPN into making the streaming services think you’re living in the US. But, unlike VPNs, setting up a smart DNS service is easier and it’s not something you need to turn on and off all the time. It also doesn’t slow down your internet connection.

You need two things to start streaming House of the Dragon, a smart DNS, and a HBO Max subscription.

Smart DNS
If you have an Apple TV or a Smart TV, setting up smart DNS is as simple as going into your settings menu and adding some numbers. I use a DNS service from Smart DNS Proxy (affiliate link) and it allows me to stream from any of the services including Showtime, HBO, Huly, Paramount, Dinsney and more. They also provide easy step by step guides on how to set up the DNS service on your Apple TV and other devices. I’ve been using them for a few years and never ran into issues with them. A full year subscription costs my $18. Link

HBO Max Subscription
Subscribing to HBO Max or other US streaming services is also really simple as long as you do it through your Apple device. If you have an iPhone you might also have a US Apple Store account. An easy way to know if you have a US or Kuwait Apple Store account is how you pay for your apps and subscriptions. Is your Kuwaiti credit card connected to your Apple account? Or do you buy Apple cards and recharge your account that way? If it’s the latter then you probably have a US account. In that case, you need to subscribe to the streaming services either through your phone or other iOS devices. That way the subscription will be deducted from your Apple account and you won’t have to use a US credit card to pay.

That’s pretty much it. If you have any questions let me know in the comments.

I found out about the website and app Nabati from a vegan friend of mine, it’s an online grocery store that specializes in only vegan products. They check the ingredients for each and every product they sell to make sure that what they’re selling is totally vegan making the shopping experience super convenient for vegans.

My two best friends are vegan, well one is an ex-vegan now but I’ve spent a lot of time shopping with them to know it’s a slow process of having to read the ingredients of items they haven’t purchased before to check and see if they’re vegan or not. Having a store where you know everything they’re selling is vegan-friendly takes a lot of hassle out of shopping.

If you’re a vegan, check out nabatistore.com